S'abonner

Occurrence of GHB in blood and urine specimens from victims of alleged sexual assault or blackout in Western Switzerland - 15/08/22

Doi : 10.1016/j.toxac.2022.06.233 
Caroline Mathon 1, , Aurélien Thomas 2, Marc Augsburger 1
1 University center of legal medicine, Lausanne university hospital, Lausanne-Geneva, Switzerland 
2 Faculty unit of toxicology, Faculty of biology and medicine, university of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland 

Corresponding author.

Bienvenue sur EM-consulte, la référence des professionnels de santé.
Article gratuit.

Connectez-vous pour en bénéficier!

Résumé

Aim

Although much has been written on the subject of drug facilitated sexual assault (DFSA) or victim of blackout, no epidemiological study has yet been conducted in Switzerland to evaluate the occurrence of GHB and other drugs in this context. GHB is frequently mentioned on social networks and in the media as the most regularly used substance in DFSA, but often without being based on scientific studies. In order to have an assessment of the situation, political authorities asked our laboratory to systematically screen for GHB in samples obtained in case of DSFA or blackout, and driving under the influence of drugs (DUID), with the aim to assess the occurrence of voluntary or involuntary GHB use in Western Switzerland.

Method

All DFSA, blackout and DUID cases received in 2021 in our laboratory were routinely tested for the presence of GHB at non-physiological concentrations by enzymatic assay with a urine cut-off of 10mg equivalent GHB/L. All positive cases were confirmed by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) using a cut-off of 6mg/L in urine and 1.5mg/L in whole blood. All DFSA and blackout cases were also analyzed by GC-MS, to ensure the absence of false negative cases. When requested by the justice, other substances such as ethanol, benzodiazepines, cannabinoids, cocaine, amphetamines, opioids, antidepressant, and other psychoactive substances were screening in urine and/or blood, by immunoassays, head-space gas chromatography coupled to flame ionization detector (HS-GC-FID), GC-MS, and/or liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry or high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS; LC-HRMS (orbitrap)).

Results

60 DFSA and blackout cases and 633 DUID cases were included in the study. Women predominated over men in the DFSA and blackout group (77%), while men predominated over women in the DUID group (90%). Median age in the DFSA and blackout group was 23, and median age in the DUID group was 30. The median delay to obtain urine after the event was 12hours in case of DFSA and blackout, and 2hours for DUID cases. The median delay to obtain whole blood after the event was 12hours in case of DFSA and blackout, and 1.5hours for DUID cases. The presence of GHB at concentration above the cut-off was detected in 1 DFSA and blackout case (130mg/L in blood and 730mg/L in urine), and in 3 DUID cases (78mg/L, not detected, and not detected in blood, and 660mg/L, 8.6mg/L, and 25mg/L in urine, respectively). These cases concerned only men. For these 4 cases, other substances were also detected. Thus, for the DFSA and blackout case, methamphetamine, methylphenidate, zolpidem and pregabaline were detected, and in the DUID cases, methamphetamine was detected in one case, ethanol, cocaine and cannabis were detected in another case, and 3-MMC was detected in the last case. When analyzed, ethanol was detected in 48% of DFSA and blackout cases, cannabinoids in 17%, benzodiazepines and Z-drugs in 10%, antidepressant in 9.8%, cocaine in 6.5%, amphetamines in 6.5%, methylphenidate in 4.8%, and opioids in 2.1%. Median concentration of ethanol after back calculation was 2.07g/kg in DFSA and blackout cases.

Conclusion

The results obtained, showing a very limited voluntary or involuntary use of GHB, are comparable to those obtained in other international studies.

For the first time in Switzerland, a study was conducted for the evaluation of the occurrence of GHB in blood and urine specimens from victims of alleged sexual assault or blackout, and DUID cases. The results showed that GHB is very rarely consumed and used in DSFA or blackout cases, in comparison to other psychoactive drugs.

Le texte complet de cet article est disponible en PDF.

Plan


© 2022  Publié par Elsevier Masson SAS.
Ajouter à ma bibliothèque Retirer de ma bibliothèque Imprimer
Export

    Export citations

  • Fichier

  • Contenu

Vol 34 - N° 3S

P. S140 - septembre 2022 Retour au numéro
Article précédent Article précédent
  • Suicide of a young woman using a kit containing sodium nitrite ordered on the internet
  • Alice Matheux, Mélanie Loiseau, Sandrine Sabini, Stephanie Cavard, Anne-Sophie Advenier, Agathe Pasquet, Jean-Francois Errard, Amelie Devresse, Thierry Villain, Richard Gosse, Olivier Messines, Sarah Romain, Irène François-Purssell, Pascal Guerard
| Article suivant Article suivant
  • The impact of imidacloprid and its metabolites on long-term neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders in a Zebrafish model
  • Megan Mcculloch, Lerato Homu, Carine Smith, Tracy Kellermann

Bienvenue sur EM-consulte, la référence des professionnels de santé.

Mon compte


Plateformes Elsevier Masson

Déclaration CNIL

EM-CONSULTE.COM est déclaré à la CNIL, déclaration n° 1286925.

En application de la loi nº78-17 du 6 janvier 1978 relative à l'informatique, aux fichiers et aux libertés, vous disposez des droits d'opposition (art.26 de la loi), d'accès (art.34 à 38 de la loi), et de rectification (art.36 de la loi) des données vous concernant. Ainsi, vous pouvez exiger que soient rectifiées, complétées, clarifiées, mises à jour ou effacées les informations vous concernant qui sont inexactes, incomplètes, équivoques, périmées ou dont la collecte ou l'utilisation ou la conservation est interdite.
Les informations personnelles concernant les visiteurs de notre site, y compris leur identité, sont confidentielles.
Le responsable du site s'engage sur l'honneur à respecter les conditions légales de confidentialité applicables en France et à ne pas divulguer ces informations à des tiers.


Tout le contenu de ce site: Copyright © 2025 Elsevier, ses concédants de licence et ses contributeurs. Tout les droits sont réservés, y compris ceux relatifs à l'exploration de textes et de données, a la formation en IA et aux technologies similaires. Pour tout contenu en libre accès, les conditions de licence Creative Commons s'appliquent.